Door



y 25, 1965 R. DUGGER 3,184,84

DOOR

Fi led Dec. 21, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. RALPH L Due- 5 R. L.DUGGER May 25, 1965 DOOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed .Dec. 21, 1960 y 1965 R.DUGGER 3,184,804

noon

Filed Dec. 21. 1960 4 Sheetsj-Sheet 4 mmvron. R400 L. D0042):

United States Patent 0 3,184,804 DGDR Ralph L. Bugger, Box 3121, Rte. 1,Hopkins, Minn. Filed Dec. 21, 1960, Ser. No. 77,331 6 Giaims. (Cl.Zti-l?) This application is a continuation-in-part of my application,Serial No. 556,198, filed December 27, i955, now abandoned, and acontinuation-impart of my application Serial No. 822,809 filed June 25,1959, now Patent No. 3,118,189, both of which are incorporated herein byreference.

This invention relates to large doors for airplane hangars, equipmentbuildings, and other structures where it is desired to provide a doorwhich can be quickly opened and closed over a large door access opening.Airplane hangars are a ready example of buildings wherein a large dooris required. Other examples are buildings required for the storage oflarge road machinery, agricultural machinery and industrial buildingssuch as doors for warehouses, service garages, highway garages and thelike. In many instances, no provision is made for the heating of thebuilding and it is only desired that the door protect the equipment fromsun, wind, rain and snow and provide a dry building space in which theequipment may be satisfactorily stored.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a door for largewidespan door openings capable of being manufactured at relatively lowcost and rigged so that it can be operated easily and quickly even byhand operation.

It is a further object to provide an improved door construction in whichlarge sizes of doors are capable of being operated by a few easy turnsof the crank by one person or utilizing only low horsepower motorequipment for actuating the door. It is another object of the inventionto provide a widespan door of unitary construction including mountingsand riggin'gs for elevating the door upwards and backwards intothe'building to a position in which all except a minimal portion of thedoor is within the building structure and protected from the elementswhen the door is open. It is another object of the invention to providean improved door for large widespan openings so rigged that when thedoor is elevated the entire span of the opening is useable, the openingbeing (if desired) devoid of jambs or other clearance consumingprotuberances. It is a further object of the invention to providesubcombination door rigging assemblies. It is another object of theinvention to provide a versatile door for widespan openings capable ofbeing mounted and rigged so that it can be operated from the interior orex- 0 terior of the building, as desired.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved doorconstruction wherein several door supports are provided and are sorigged and mounted as to permit relatively uniform distribution of loadto spaced loading points on the building structure, regardless ofdeflection of such structure.

It is another object to provide an improved mode of framing for largedoors which permits prefabrication and easy field assembly andadjustment.

Other objects include the provision of rigging and framing components oflarge doors; improved rigging layouts; unitized operating mechanism andobjects inherent in the apparatus as herein illustrated, described andclaimed.

The invention is illustrated with reference to the draw ings in whichcorresponding numerals refer to the same parts, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a portion of a building having adoor opening closed by a door fabricated according to the presentinvention.

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along the sectional viewsthrough the door. head of the door, its overhead support, and some ofthe Patented May 255, 1%65 line and in the direction of arrows 2-2 ofFIGURE 1 illustrating a section through the door and portion of thebuilding when the door is in closed position and illustrating therigging by which it is supported and manipulated.

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal sectional view entered through the building anddoor. This view is taken at the level of line 33 of FIGURE 2, whichlatter however shows a vertical section only halfway through thebuilding. FIGURES 4, 5 and 6 are enlarged fragmentary vertical FIGURE 4shows the ice latching details and one mode of flashing.

FIGURE 5 is another view corresponding to FIGURE 4, but illustratinganother mode of flashing.

FIGURE 6 is a section at a lower level illustrating the the cablesupport attachment.

FIGURE 7 is a related fragmentary front elevational view taken in thedirection of' arrows 7-7 of FIGURE 6. FIGURES 6 and 7 together show themode of'ca-bleend anchorage to the door.

FIGURES 8 and 9 relate to FIGURE 2 and are some what enlarged views ofthe crank mechanism by which the door is operated, FIGURES 8 being avertical elevational view in the direction of arrows 8-8 of FIGURE 2,and FIGURE 9 is a side elevational view in the direction of arrows 9-9of FIGURE 8.

2 door and the adjacent portions of the building is illustrated inFIGURE 1 and as there shown the door consists of a unitary fiat panelhaving a width W and a height H for closing the door openingO. While thedoor may be in any building for which his adapted, it is hereillustrated as applied to a multiple nested-T hangar, the novelconstruction of which is a feature of the invention.

As will be observed from FIGURES 2 and 3, the illustrated building has abuilding centerline CL extending throughout the length of the building,which is of rectangular outside wall plan. In the building there aretransverse walls 1, 2, 3 and 4 and centerline walls 5 and 6, see FIGURE3, which serve to delineate the floor plan of the individual hangarunits, which when nested together form the plan of the building. The endhangar units of the building, not illustrated, are squared out. As shownin FIGURE 3 there is a hangar unit U1 partially illustrated and adjacentand nested with it is the hangar unit U2, having a hangar unitcenterline transverse to the building centerline. Hangar unit U2 isshown in complete plan and is nested to a third hangar unitU3, partiallyillustrated. The entire building may include as many such nested hangarunits as are desired, successive units facing in alternate directions.Thus, the two units, U1 and U3 face in one direction whereas the unit U2faces in the opposite direction with reference to the centerline of thebuilding.

As shown for hangar unit U2, each hangar unit has a tailbay ofrectangular area which for unit U2 is bounded by a tailbay backwall 19,this being also one portion of the building sidewall, and by walls 2 and3 and the building centerline. The tailbay is two modules wide, fromwall 2 to wall 3, and one half the building width deep. The wingoay isfour modules wide, symmetrical about the hangar unit centerline. Thewingbay is bounded by cross wall 1, centerline wall 5 and thence alongthe building centerline to centerline wall 6 and thence along the crosswall 4 to wall 18. The wingbay space is entirely open across the frontfrom the corner of walls 1 and 17 to the corner of walls 4 and 18. Thisis the hanger door opening in the sidewall of the building and which isadapted to be closed by the hanger door according to this invention.

As illustrated in FIGURE 3, the hangar units are sized dimensionally ofmultiples of the modular dimension, viz: MODE, MODZ, MODS and MODd, ofequal dimension along the length of the building measured in thedirection of the centerline of the building, and are the width of theWingbay space. The tailbay is two modules wide. The total width of thebuilding determines the depth of the hangar units and may be as desired.A truss is provided at 8 along the centerline of the building over eachtailbay TB, and another truss 9 is provided over each hangar unit dooropening. Each of the hangar units thus has a tailbay truss along thecenterline and a truss spanning the door opening.

In the foregoing description, the building is a nested multiple-T hangarbuilding, but it will be appreciated that asset the door of the presentinvention hereinafter described, may be utilized in other buildings suchas farm buildings,

industrial buildings and the like whenever it is desired to close alarge door opening.

From FIGURE 1 it will be observed that the truss 9 is covered on itsfront surface by a sheeting it In FIG- URE 2 the bottom cord of the doortruss is shown as composed of a pair of angles 11 and-the top cord as apair of angles 12. Other truss members are omitted but it will-beunderstood that vertical and diagonal members, not illustrated, areincluded as is customary in truss design. In: addition, the trussincludes as a part of the truss structure parallel vertical members inspaced apart relation, which serve as mountings for the front end of thedoor supporting tracks.

The front closure 10 on the outer face of the truss is here illustratedas wood sheeting, but may be composed of any desired material. Forattaching the wood sheeting there is provided a wood nailer 14 along thebottom cord of the truss, the nailer being held in place by bolts 15,

another nailer 14A being provided above the roof joists RI level withthe roof decking RD. In the building illustrated, the roof is level, orsubstantially level and is supported by roof joists R], see FIGURE 2.These roof joists maybe of the type customarily designated bar joist.The position of the bar joist are also shown in FIGURE 3 and it will beobserved that they are spaced apart from each other by one-half of themodular dimension MOD, and run at right angles to the buildingcenterline. The bar joist BJ serve as convenient supports for the rearpart of the door supporting tracks and other rigging of the doorequipment. Thus it will be observed that at 16 a hangar extendsdown fromthe bar joists to a point 17 on the rear end of the door supportingtrack 68, which is suspended at two points only.

Referring to FIGURE 3, the wall 1 is connected at its outer end to thebuilding outer wall 17 which is the back wall of the tailbay of hangarunit U1 and wall 4 is connected to the building outer wall 18 which,similarly is the back wall of the tailbay of hangar unit U3. At theopposite side of the building the wall19 forms the outer wall of thebuilding and is the backwall of the tailbay of hangar unit U2. The Walls1, 2, 3, 4 and 17 through 19 are composed of any suitable buildingmaterial such as concrete blocks, sheeting on steel frame, woodconstruction or the like.

The roof here illustrated may be level or may have some pitch throughoutits various portions as described below and is supported by the roofjoists R]. Steel roof deck RD spans the joists. On this is laid aninsulation layer RI and over this a multiple layer roof R. The roofedges are straight and opposite edges along the sides of the wholebuilding are parallel. End wall (not shown) of the building run acrossthe building at right angles to the building centerline. The roof edgehas a flashing and gravel stop EF, which confines the roof drainageexcept where this flashing is interrupted.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 5 it will be noted thatthe width W of thedoor spans the entire door opening 0, exc'ept for a small clearancespace SC at each side. It is one feature of the invention that when thedoor is opened the entire door opening 0 (which is the dimension W plusthe clearance space SC at each end), is entirely open and is availablefor movement therethrough of any wide object such as the wing span of anairplane. Ifdesired, in some installations, there may be provided side,tracks along the vertical side walls of the door opening 0 and thetracks may form .door jarnbs. Such tracks and ,jambs are utilized wheredesired. lambs may also be used where irregularities of buildingconstruction may result in an uneven wall surface of those portions ofthe wall 1 and 4 next adjacent to the door, or may be utilized whereextremely small clearance space SC and special flashing modes aredesired.

In FIGURE 1, the door is illustrated as of a height H. A small bottomclearance BC is provided at the bottom of the door and this may beclosed by a flap of flexible material if desired. At the top of the doora clearance space is provided as shown at TC in FIGURE 6. It will benoted that the front closure 10 (which covers the front portion ofthetruss) extends down slightly below the mailer 14 to the bottom edge 19A.The bottom surface of the mailer 14 forms a surface withreference towhich the clearance TC is measured down to the top surface 29 of thedoor flashing 49. I

According to the present invention, the entire door width W and height His one unit, by may be considered theoretically, as being composed of aplurality of panels of substantially equal width dimensions, as shown atPll, P2, P3 and P4, such panels being set side-to-side and so composedand joined as to form a unitary door area. Thus referring to FIGURE 1,one panel may be considered as extending throughout the width P1 fromone side edge 21 of the door to the dotted line 22. The next panel P2extends from line 22 to line 23; the third panel extends from the line23 to line 2 4, and the fourth panel extending from line 24 to the.opposite side edge 25 of the door. In the door illustrated four suchpanels are shown, but it will be understood that the door may becomposed of any number N of such theoretical panels composedside-by-side each being independently supported and rigged ashereinafter described. Thus the width W of the door may be increased ordecreased as desired by using any desired number of panels.

Each of the theoretical panels P1 through P4, or as many as may beconsidered as making up the door span, is constructed so as to be aself-supported unit. All such panels are designed and rigged so as to bemoved simultaneously through corresponding paths of motion from closedto open position and vice versa, and since the panels are joinedtogether so as to form a single unitary door the door hence moves as aunit. According to this invention the door itself is a large flatunitary panel and hence any suitable construction and framing andsheeting ofsuch panel may be used, one such construction beingillustrated herein. Any equivalent construction of the door may be used.

According to the present invention each of the panels P1 through P4, oras many as are used, of which the unitary flat door is composed, areindividually supported in an identical manner. The individual supportsfor panel P1 will be described and it will be understood that thesupports for panels P2 through P4, or as many as are used, will beidentical unless otherwise stated. Thus referring to FIGURES 1-6, thesupporting structure for the door comprises a plurality of cablesfastened to the outer surface of the door midway between the top and themiddle thereof, and overhead tracks. Referring first to the cablestructures, as previously described, each of the pairs of backboneangles, as for example, the backbone angles 2723 for panel P1 of thedoor, has an outwardly extending plate 59 fastened to the structure ofthe door so as to extend slightly beyond the front surface of thatsheeting of the door. On the extending end'of member 59 there is apivot'hole to which a cable clevis 58 is attached. This constructionandthe clevis are best illustrated in FIGURES 2, 6 and 7. Thus the member59 in the preferred embodiment is" placed after the door is raised.

First a slot S1 is cut in the sheeting in a position aligned Verticallywith the space between the adjacent edges of the flanges of the purlins36 and 37 of the door framing and in alignment laterally with the spacebetween the adjacent flanges of the angles 28 of the door framing. Theplate 59 is then driven through and the flanges of the angles 28 areclamped up firmly against the inner portion of the plate 59 and theplate is welded in at 9A. It may be mentioned parenthetically thatduring the framing of'the door the angles forming vertical framing ofthe door are placed as near as possible to their correct positions asdetermined by measurements from one of the walls to the center lines ofeach of the overhead track structures which have previously been placedin the building structure. The door sheeting S is nailed and screwed inplace and the door is then raised.

An effective and economical form of cable clevis 58 is illustrated. Thisconsists of two side plates 58A having holes drilled at the bottom andaligned so as to receive a pin 66 which goes through the aperture 59B ofthe plate 59. The pin 68 can be an ordinary button rivet having a holedrilled through one end thereof where receiving the cotter pin 61. Theupper ends of the plates 58A are likewise drilled to receive a shortpiece of ordinary hotrolled steel bar stock 62 which is welded in placeto each plate at 58A. Since the cable clevis is exposed to the weatherit is preferably plated. A standard steel cable thimble 63, galvanizedor otherwise rustproofed is spread sufficiently so as to be snapped overthe bar 62, and a stranded steel cable likewise of galvanized stock 64is then wrapped around the thimble 62 and is securely fastened in placeby aircraft type squeeze fasteners 65. The cable 64 then runs directlyupwardly in front of the sheeting S1 of the door parallel thereto andthen passes over a pulley 65 and runs substantially directly inwardlyinto the building along the path 64A, see FIGURE 3.

Any other equivalent made of attachment of the cables to the front ofthe door at level 116l16 may be used.

The level at which the plates 59 are inserted through the door, andhence to which the cable 64 are attached, are identical for each of thepanels P1 through P4 served by the cable supports. This level, which isshown by line 116 in FTGURE 1, in the illustrated form of the structureis determined by the spacing between purlins 36 and 37, and may be atany position from adjacent the lower edge of the door to closelyadjacent to but below the middle of the door, halfway from the bottom tothe top. This establishes the level of the cable clevis pins 66 orequivalent attachment. I prefer that this level should be from aposition approximately 20% to 40% of the vertical height of the doormeasured from the lower edge.

Reference is now made to the track structure 68 serving the panel Pl asshown in FIGURES 2 and 4. Such track structure 68 is identical with allof the remaining track structures serving the panels P2 through P4 andhence only one need be described. The track structure 68 comprises atrack 69 which is securely fastened to a structural steel member 70,which in the preferred embodiment is a structural T placed in aninverted position, with the central web extending upwardly. Thisstructural T reinforcement is welded to the track 69 at intervalsthroughout the length of the assembly and after welding the track isgauged so as to provide uniform spacing along this lot in the bottom ofthe track 69 thereby to assure smooth running of the roller hangar 68which supports the backbone angles 27-28 along track 69. At the frontend of the track assembly there are a pair of spaced verticallyextending plates 71 having a secure fastening plate 72 welded betweentheir upper ends. The plates 71 thus extending upwardly are apertured at73 to receive a pivot pin 74 upon which the pulley 65 is journaled. Thefront edge of the plate 71 namely the edge 71A is designed so as to havea slight clearance with reference to the inner surface of the sheeting16 which covers the front of the truss space and slots are cut throughsuch sheeting It) so as to permit an arcuate portion of the pulley 65 toextend outwardly therethrough so as to premit it to receive the upwardrun of cable 64. After passing onequarter of the way around the pulley65 the cable continues along the portion 64A of its run as will bedescribed.

Referring to FIGURE 4 particularly, it will be observed that the web 76Aof the structural T 70 is cut away along the line 74)? so as to provideadequate clearance for the lower circumferential portion of the pulley65. The plates 71 are joined together at their upper edges by thecrossplate 72, welded securely in place, and the plate 72 is aperturedto receive a long bolt 75 the head of which is situated below the plate72 and the shank of the bolt extending upwardly. The structural members1313 which are made a part of the truss, and are illustrated in FIGURE 3have welded to them a cross bracket 76 which is likewise apertured inproper position to receive the upward shank of the bolt 75. Above theplate 76, there is a spring 77 around the bolt. The lower end of spring77 bottoms securely upon the plate 76. A washer and nut are placed at 78on the bolt and are screwed down as to compress the spring 77 whichaccordingly supports the bolt 75, and through it supports the front endof the entire track structure 68.

Movement of the track structure 68 toward and away from sheeting lfl isprecluded by a pair of clips 7979 which are welded to one of the sideplates 71 and spaced so as to bear, with slight clearance, against theadjacent edges of one of the vertical angles 13. Thus the front end ofthe track structure 68 is free to move up and down within the limits ofcompressibility of the spring 77 but is precluded from moving sidewaysby virtue of the spacing of the vertically arranged angles 13 of thestructure, and is precluded from moving toward or away from the innersurface of the sheeting 10 by virtue of the clips 79 which stabilizesthe front end of the structure with reference to the vertical angles 13.The rear end of the track structure 66 is supported in any suitablemanner from the overhead framing of the building, here illustrated as ahanger 16 which goes through an aperture 17 in the rear end of the trackstructure 68 and is hooked on to the bar joist R]. It will be noted thatthere is a slight downward slant of the track structure 68 toward thedoor opening, the degree of which may be varied. In the track 69 of thetrack structure 68, there is positioned a roller hanger, generallydesignated 68, of ordinary commercial design, as is the track 69. Iprefer to use extra strong roller hangers of ball or roller bearingconstruction. The hanger has a downwardly extending pendant 81 which isapertured at its lower end to receive a pivot pin 82 which passesthrough suitably placed apertures in the upper end of the backboneangles 27 and 28. In the design, the front flanges of the pairs ofbackbone angles 27-28 are arranged to seat against the inner edge of theinner lower angle of the truss bottom chord, which accordinglydetermines the forward run of the door during its closing movement.

Referring to FIGURES 1, 2, 3 and 4 particularly, it will be noted thatthe run 64A of the cable 64 extends substantially straight inwardlywithin the building with respect to the sheeting If It continues thisrun, designated 64A, and thence passes around pulley 83 which isdisposed in a substantially horizontal plane and thence passes directlyover a drum 84, which is sufficiently wide to receive the correspondingruns of the remaining pulley as will be described. The run 64A of thecable is preferably displaced slightly so as to avoid the rear hanger 16by which the track is supported. The run 64A is normally sufficientlylong so that a slight angular displacement, to allow clearance withhanger 16, for example one inch at the point 16A, see FIGURE 5, isunnoticeable and does not cause any difficulty with respect to thetravel of the cable over the pulley 65.

The corresponding cables for the panel P2 through P4 are similarlyattached to backbones 294%, 31-32 and 3334. These rise Vertically andafter passing around a pulley corresponding to pulley 65, extendinwardly of. the building along the runs shown at SSA, 86A and 87A.

It will be understood that their mode of attachment to the backboneangles of these various panels and the track structures serving eachpanel, are identical with those described with reference to panel P1.cables is set to run over a pulley disposed in a horizontal plane as at38, 89 and 96. These pulleys are displaced sidely vertically withreference to pulley 83 as follows: The pulley 90is set the lowest, thepulley 89 slightly above it so as to clear the run 87B of the cable 87.The pulley S8 is set still a little higher so as to clear the runs 868and 87B of the cables below it, and the pulley 83 is set still a littlehigher so that it is disposed over the cables 86B, 87B and 85B and willcause no interference. Only a slight displacement vertically isnecessary since the cables are of small diameter. pulleys 88, 89 and 90is varied, as permitted by the building structure.

Each of these The bracketing for the I prefer to use a stub shaftextending downwardly as at 88A from a horizontal plate 858 which isslotted at 88C to receivea bolt'extending through a mounting on thebuilding structure adjacent thereto. I prefer that the plate 88B shouldbe at substantially a degree angle with reference to the runs 85A and85B of the cables, since this is the natural direction of pull.

The bracketing for the pulleys 89 and 90 are similar. The

mode of attachment for these pulleys is not illustrated, as this willvary from installation to installation.

The drum 84 is carried on shaft 84A which is journalled in bearings91-91 mounted on a heavy framework 92 that is fastened in any suitablemanner to the adjacent walls 4 and 6. This frame 92 may serve as themounting for the bracketing of pulley 83. The drum 84 is of sufficientwidth so as to permit the runs 64B, 85B, 86B and 87B of the severalcables to pass thereover without interference and/ or undue crowding. Iprefer that the cables should run approximately one-quarter to one inchapart. The cables then extend directly downwardly as shown in FIGURE 2along the runs 64C, 85C, 86C and 37C, and are fastened to the supportingframework of the weight box generally designated 92. The construction ofthe weight box may be similar to that shown in my copending applicationaforementioned except that in this instance the several cables are eachseparate and are simply wrapped aroundthe main supporting bar of theweight box, and. each cable is securely airplane cable clamps.

Ineach of the runs of the four cables here illustrated, or as many asare used, there will be provided a turnbuckle, as illustrated at 64D inFIGURE 2, so as to allow for adjustment of the cable tension. ifdesired, a spring may also be connected in the length of the cable so asto provide some resiliency in the cable tension, such spring beingillustrated at 64E for cable 64. it will be understood that similarturnbuckles and/ or springs may be provided in the runs 85A, 86A and87A,'as shown in the drawings. I prefer to put the turnbuckles andsprings where used, in the runs of the cable within the building,between the pulley 65 and the pulleys adjacent the centerline of thebuilding, and so located as shown when the door is in closed position,since this substantially horizontal run allows adequate room withoutinterference with other portions of the mechanism.

The reason for the use of the spring 77 for mounting a the front end ofthe track and the spring 64E in the cable structure, is to permitbalancing of the door load sustaining forces of the several tracks andcable structures when the position of the truss deflects due tovariations in loading, due to snow on the roof, temperature changes andthe like. 7

Referring to FIGURES 2, 8 and 9, the drum 84 is carried by and welded toa shaft 84A which. turns in heavy bearings M, and at the outerend of theshaft there fastened by means. of

Nuts placed on these screws will hold the plate 98 in any 7 position ofadjustment within the limitsof the slots 98A. The plate 3 is providedwith an internal stiffener 100 and a stub shaft 101 which extendsoutwardly and is provided with a spacing collar at 1192. A sprocket at103 on shaft 101 is turned by a crank handle 104, having a hand piece195 solidly welded to the sprocket. The entire sprocket 1% and crank 104assembly is. held in place by a collar 1% on the outer end of thestubshaft 1G1.v The chain 95 runs over the sprocket 1% and hence, as thecrank 104-105 is turned, it will rotate the. drum" 84 and hence impartmovement to the several. cables where they run over this drum; Althoughthere is only one-quarter of a turn of these cables around the. drum 84,this has been found in practiceto be sufficient to provide the necessaryapplication of force neededfor :opening the door once the door has beenuniatched and for closing the door firmly and latching it.

On the inside of the door, at each end of the purlins 35 and 37, thereare provided knuckle joints generally designated 1% andltl'i to whichthe forward ends of radius rods 114 and 115 are, respectively, attached,see FI URES 2 and 3. These radius rods extend inwardly and upwardly asshown in FIGURE 2 and at their inner ends are provided with a pivot asat 114A inFIGURE 2 which turns upon a pivot 116 set in the wall 4 andthe pivot 115A which turns upon a pivot 117 set in the wall 1. It may benoted parenthetically that .the location of these pivots is such thatwhen the door is closed it will be in vertical position and that whenthedoor is opened, the upwardruns of cables such as cable -l will belikewise vertical or slanted slightly outwardly in respect to thepulleys 65. This-means, therefore, that the knuckle portion, i.e., thepivot points 111 and 111 will follow. an arcuate path from the closed tothe open position and vice versa as shown in my applicationaforementioned.

When the door is entirely up, the entire area is open from the innersurface of wall 1 to the inner surface of wall 4, being without jarnbsor other obstructions which consume such valuable door opening space. Iprefer this form of construction, but if desired the knuckles and 111may be extended over the edge of the door and provided with rollers runin tracks suitably spaced. If this form of construction is used, as alsoillustrated in my application aforementioned, the vertical level atwhich such pivots 111 and 111 are positioned is higher than the level ofline 116*116, see FIGURE 1 whichis the level of attachment of the cablesto the frontof the door, i.e., the level of pivot pins 60. Thereason forthis is thatthe pivot pin 60 must not be drawn inwardly to anysubstantial degree as the door is brought to fully open position andhence,-as the plane of the door varies from vertical to a more nearlyhorizontal position, dimensional allowance must be provided so as toinhibit anyinward draw of the door as it is opened beyond a position atwhich the cables are vertical to pulley 65. Hence this requires, whentracks are used for stabilizing the lower portioniof the door, that therollers in the tracks shall be set somewhat higher than the level ofline 116*116. The amount that it is higher is determinedby the positionof the track inwardly with reference to the position of the pivot pin60. The axis of such-rollers being as much higher than the level of line116 as they are inward from the plane of the pivot 64] for bestresults.

In FIGURES, the weight box frame 92, the weight box and the cablingarrangement is illustrated for a position of the weight box at the rightside of the hangar unit when looking upward from the hangar, but it willbe readily understood that the weight box may be shifted to the left endof FIGURE 3 if desired, or elsewhere placed within or without the hangaras shown in my application aforementioned by suitable provision of guidepulleys for the cabling arrangement.

For supporting the door against deflection in an inward direction whenit is in a vertical (closed) position, I provide for the bottom of thedoor sills S1 at each side of the hangar opening. These sills areillustrated in dotted lines in FIGURE 2 and an opening is providedbetween the adjacent ends of the sills and a sufiicient width so as topermit the movement of the aircraft wheels between the sills. The sillmay be of any height desired. As illustrated, it is of a heightsufficient so as to be engaged by the inner flanges of the lower purlin35. However, the door may be made with greater bottom clearance BCbetween the lower edge of sheeting S and ground level, if desired so asto avoid interference with snow. Then by providing a flap on the loweredge of the door between the adjacent edges of the sills SI and SIcomplete closure can be obtained.

For holding the top or head of the door against inward deflection whenin the vertical (closed) position, I provide a plurality of latchingbolts which can, if desired, be constructed as shown in my Patent No.3,103,995, granted September 17, 1963, for Door and Latching. Anyequivalent form of latching may be used, but that illustrated in myaforesaid patent is preferred.

The bolts as at 121 are heavy, flat bar stock and extend downwardly andare provided at their inner face with a small piece of pipe, welded onit as at 126, see FIGURE 6. The trunnion pipe receives a pivot pin 127which extends through similar short lengths of pipe which are slipped onthe ends of the pin and welded to a main horizontal pivot pipe 128. Thepipe 128 extends across from the backbone angle 2748, thence acrossthree of the spans between adjacent backbone structures and beyond thebackbone structure 33-34. The pivot pipe 123 is suitably jour' naled inany form of journal on the front surfaces of the flanges of the anglescomprising each backbone structure, so as to be in the space occupied bythe purlins as best illustrated in FIGURE 4. At one end the pipe 123 isprovided with weld-on handle 129 which is normally pulled upwardly by aspring 139 attached to hook 131 at an upper part of the backbonestructure. The handle 129 is also provided with a pull rope 132 whichextends downwardly and is hooked at 133 to some convenient location at alower portion of the backbone structure. By pulling on the rope, thepipe 128 may be rotated through approximately 120 degrees and when it isreleased, the spring 130 will fetch the handle 12? up and hence rotatethe pipe 123 in a reverse direction. This movement is communicated toeach of the bolts 121 for moving them up and down. This construction issimilar to the construction of the bolts, and their mountings andcontrols illustrated in my application aforementioned. The upperportions of each of the bolts 121-124 is stabilized against inwardmovement by a small clip, as at 121A for the bolt 121. These clips maybe simply a short bar of steel held on any suitable spacers welded tothe top channel 40 as shown in FIGURE 6. The clips are made so as toprovide a rather loose lit, as close tolerance is not required.

The upper ends of the bolts are held by latches 151-154, see FIGURE 3 ofimproved form, as shown in my Patent No. 3,103,995, granted September17, 1963 for Door and Latching, to which reference is made for a morecomplete description of the latching arrangement.

As many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it istherefore to be understood that I do not limit myself to the specificembodiments herein.

What I claim is:

1. A widespan overhead door for closing a door opening in a buildingcomprising a unitary flat door panel which in the upright positioncloses the door opening except for edge clearances, tracks extendinginto the interior of the building, each of said tracks being located ina vertical plane normal to the door when the door is closed, andpositioned in a substantially common locating plane above the doorextending into the interior of the building roller hangers in each ofthe tracks and pivotally connected to the head of the door, a pluralityof cable hitch points on the front face of the door panel said cablehitch points being located at spaced intervals across the width of thedoor and in a common horizontal line across the door, a plurality ofcables, each cable being pivotally connected to one of the cable hitchpoints, each cable then extending up the front face of the door, guidepulleys mounted within the building so as each to be in substantiallyvertical plane above the upper edge of the door panel and so as topresent at least a portion of its pulley groove outwardly in respect tothe front of the door and located, one above each cable hitch point ofthe door for receiving and guiding said cables, pulley means within thebuilding for guiding said cables along running paths which aresubstantially parallel to each other and normal to the door and thenceparallel to the door when the door is closed, drum means rotatablymounted in an elevated position in the building for receiving the cableswhere they move along said parallel running paths, counterweight meansbelow said drum means, said cables being run over said drum means to andattached to said counterweight means, each cable being along a pathcomposed of successive segments, adjacent segments being normal to eachother, guide means on each edge of the door at substantially thevertical level of said cable hitch points and cooperating means on thebuilding for guiding that portion of the door at the vertical level ofsaid' guide means along a predetermined path during door opening andclosing movement, and power means for rotating said drum means formoving the cables equal amounts for each increment of door opening andclosing movement.

2. A widespan overhead door system for closing a door opening in abuilding comprising a flat door panel which in the upright positioncloses the door opening except for clearance, tracks located in a commonplane extending from positions over the head of the door when it isupright and thence inwardly into the building, a roller hanger in eachtrack pivotally connected to the head of the door, the head of the doorbeing thereby translatable directly into the building along a path ofmovement paralleling the plane of the tracks, counterweight means withinthe building and in the space behind the door as defined by verticalplanes at the edges of the door and normal to the door and a drum abovethe counterweight and mounted on a horizontal axis at an elevation abovethe head of the door, a plurality of cable hitches at spaced positionsacross the front of the door and at a common horizontal hitch level,primary guide pulleys above the door, each primary guide pulley being ina vertical plane normal to the door and above one of the cable hitches,a plurality of secondary guide pulleys within the building and withinsaid space behind the door, each said secondary pulley being locatedsubstantially in a horizontal plane and substantially at the elevationof the drum and with the axis of said secondary pulleys along a linesubstantially parallel to the door, a plurality of cables each attachedto one of the cable hitches and extending upwardly in front of the doorto a position above the head of the door and thence around one of saidprimary guide pulleys and into the building, each cable being furtherguided around one of the secondary guide pulleys within the building andWithin said space so that the cable then runs substantially parallel tothe other cables and substantially parallel to the door at saidelevation above the head of the door, each cable extending to and thencearound said l l drum and down to said counterweight to which the cableis connected, each cable being characterized by extending along a runcomposed of segments, each of which is normal to an adjacent segment,and guide means at the side of the door for guiding that part of thesides of the door at substantially the elevation of the cable hitchesalong a prescribed up and down path as the head of the door istranslated along said tracks by movement of said roller hangers alongsaid tracks, and power means connected to the drum and includingmanually operable means accessable to a person at floor level forcontrolling rotation of the drum for opening and closing the door.

3. The door system specified in-clairn 2 further characterized in thatat least two tracks are utilized and are spaced from each other adistance less than the width of the door.

4. A door system comprising a large flat unitary over.- head door forclosing a door opening in a building, rigging supporting the door in avertical position in which it closes the building opening and forcombined rotational and elevating movementto and from said open positionwherein the door is in a generally horizontal position at the top of theopening with a portion of the door within the building and a portion ofthe door projecting outwardly from the building, said rigging includingtracks above the door and extending substantially normal to the doorwhen closed and into the building, roller hangers in the tracks andpivotally connected to the door near its upper edge, and-a plurality ofcables each attached to the front of the door at a common level and eachcable extending up the front of the door to and around a pulley abovethe door and thence normal to the plane of the door and into thebuilding, said system being further characterized in that said cablesare each then guided around another pul ley at an elevated position andWithin the building'and in the space behind the door as defined byvertical planes at the edges of the door and normal to the door, saidcables being then run at substantially said elevated position and-alongpaths spaced from and parallel to the door, a drum 'journalled'at saidelevated position within the building in said space behind the door,a'counterweight below said drum, mechanical means connected to the drumand having operating means at floor level for rotating the drum, saidcables being run along paths which are composed of segments which arenormal to ad- 3,-1 scene said track means said hangars being connectedto the upper edge of the door for supporting at least a part of theweight of the door, said rigging also including cables extending from aplurality of attachment points located on the outside of the door at acommon substantially horizontal attachment point level, transversely ofthe door, each of said cables extending upwardly therefrom, a drumjournalled above the upper edge of the door and within the building at aposition spaced rearwardly from the door and Within a space defined byvertical planes at the side. jambs of the door and normal tothe door,and a counterweight below said drum, primary guide pulleys all atsubstantially the level of the drum, one such pulley being providedabove each of the attachment points and secondary guide pulley meanswithin the building and said space and at substantially the level of thedrum, each of said cables being run from its attachment point on thefront of the door'and thence'up and partially around one of said primaryguide pulleys and thence-partially around said secondary guide pulleymeans and thence partially around the drum and down to saidcounterweight, each cable having a complete path defined by rectilinearlines including a portion upwardly in frontof the door from theattachment point to the primary pulley and a portion downwardly fromsaid drumto said counterweight and also including a portion parallel tothe plane of the door and a portion normal to the plane of the door allwith referencev to the door when the door isin the closed position.

jacent segments and run at said elevated position parallel to the doordirectly to and partially around said drum and thence downwardly to saidcounterweight to which they are attached below the drum, said cables anddrum having a sufiicient area of contact so that by operating saidmechanical means net amount of pull on the cables may be increased to anamount exceeding the weight of the counterweight or decreased to anamount less than the Weight of the counterweight so as to permitrespectively opening or closing movement of the door.

5. A door for a building opening, said opening being defined bystructural members of the building, comprising a flat unitary widespandoor in the form of a panel which in its vertical position closes theopening, rigging for supporting the door includingtrack means extendingfrom a position adjacent the upper edge of the door and generally normalto the door and extending inwardly in respect to the building, doorhangars for movement along 6.'The door constructed according to claim 5further characterized in that said secondary guide pulley means, ismounted on a downwardly extending pulley shaft from bracketing situatedabove the .level of said secondary guide pulley means, so as to leaveuninterrupted space below said pulleys.

References Eited by the lilxamulnerv UNITED STATES PATENTS 100,373 3/70Capron 20-19 X 875,306 12/07 Wilson 20-19 494,142 3/93 Hendershott'20-19 1,258,439 3/18 Ogden 16-87 X 1,663,196 3/28 Gibbons 20-19 X1,837,152 12/31 Ellsworth 189-15 1,897,391 2/33 Kelly 160-209 X1,925,574 9/33 Scott 160-209 X 2,023,193 12/35 Byrne 20-19 2,141,51512/38 Casse 20-19 2,151,033 3/39 Jones 268-30 X 2,178,137 10/39 Byrne268- X 2,188,694 1/40 Tucker. 2,201,636 5/40 Siess et a1. 20-192,244,405 6/41 Schilling 20-19 2,411,369 11/46 Forrest '20-19 2,552,7525/51 Venditty 20-19 2,574,307 11/51 Whelan 189-15 2,681,468 6/54 Quinn16-57 X 2,759,227 8/56 Ried et al. 20-16 2,937,415 5/60 Dugger 20-16HARRISON R.- MOSELEY, Primary Examiner. JOEL REZNEK, JOSEPH D. BEIN,Examiners.

1. A WIDESPAN OVERHEAD DOOR FOR CLOSING A DOOR OPENING IN A BUILDINGCOMPRISING A UNITARY FLAT DOOR PANEL WHICH IN THE UPRIGHT POSITIONCLOSES THE DOOR OPENING EXCEPT FOR EDGE CLEARANCES, TRACKS EXTENDINGINTO THE INTERIOR OF THE BUILDING, EACH OF SAID TRACKS BEING LOCATED INA VERTICAL PLANE NORMAL TO THE DOOR WHEN THE DOOR IS CLOSED, ANDPOSITIONED IN A SUBSTANTIALLY COMMON LOCATING PLANE ABOVE THE DOOREXTENDING INTO THE INTERIOR OF THE BUILDING ROLLER HANGERS IN EACH OFTHE TRACKS AND PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO THE HEAD OF THE DOOR, A PLURALITYOF CABLE HITCH POINTS ON THE FRONT FACE OF THE DOOR PANEL SAID CABLEHITCH POINTS BEING LOCATED AT SPACED INTERVALS ACROSS THE WIDTH OF THEDOOR AND IN A COMMON HORIZONTAL LINE ACROSS THE DOOR, A PLURALITY OFCABLES, EACH CABLE BEING PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO ONE OF THE CABLE HITCHPOINTS, EACH CABLE THEN EXTENDING UP THE FRONT FACE OF THE DOOR, GUIDEPULLEYS MOUNTED WITHIN THE BUILDING SO AS EACH TO BE IN SUBSTANTIALLYVERTICAL PLANE ABOVE THE UPPER EDGE OF THE DOOR PANEL AND SO AS TOPRESENT AT LEAST A PORTION OF ITS PULLEY GROOVE OUTWARDLY IN RESPECT TOTHE FRONT OF THE DOOR AND LOCATED, ONE ABOVE EACH CABLE HITCH POINT OTHE DOOR FOR RECEIVING AND GUIDING SAID CABLES, PULLEY MEANS WITHIN THEBUILDING FOR GUIDING SAID CABLES ALONG RUNNING PATHS WHICH ARESUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER AND NORMAL TO THE DOOR AND THENCEPARALLEL TO THE DOOR WHEN THE DOOR IS CLOSED, DRUM MEANS ROTATABLYMOUNTED IN AN ELEVATED POSITION IN THE BUILDING FOR RECEIVING THE CABLESWHERE THEY MOVE ALONG SAID PARALLEL RUNNING PATHS, COUNTERWEIGHT MEANSBELOW SAID DRUM MEANS, SAID CABLES BEING RUN OVER SAID DRUM MEANS TO ANDATTACHED TO SAID COUNTERWEIGHT MEANS, EACH CABLE BEING ALONG A PATHCOMPOSED OF SUCCESSIVE SEGMENTS, ADJACENT SEGMENTS BEING NORMAL TO EACHOTHER, GUIDE MEANS ON EACH EDGE OF THE DOOR AT SUBSTANTIALY THE VERTICALLEVEL OF SAID CABLE HITCH POINTS AND COOPERATING MEANS ON THE BUILDINGFOR GUIDING THE PORTION OF THE DOOR AT THE VERTICAL LEVEL OF SAID GUIDEMEANS ALONG A PREDETERMINED PATH DURING DOOR OPENING AND CLOSINGMOVEMENT, AND POWER MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID DRUM MEANS FOR MOVING THECABLES EQUAL AMOUNTS FOR EACH INCREMENT OF DOOR OPENING AND CLOSINGMOVEMENT.